The Vanishing Mural (standard:humor, 4122 words)
Author: GXD	Added: Dec 09 2009	Views/Reads: 2891/2058	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Murals help suppress crime, except when they disappear. Modern technology at work here. Laugh your way through this one!

The Vanishing Mural 

Cast of Characters 

1.   Laurie, from Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods 

2.   Debbie, a community leader and world traveler 

3.   Linda - a community organizer & detective (John's her house mate) 

4.   Audrey, from the Wallingford Neighborhood Council 

5.   George, a retired Wallingford resident 

6.   Leah, a Fremont artist and mother 

7.   Greg, from Fremont, an artist and organizer 

8.   Police Chief Washington from the North Precinct 

9.   Mayor Dimes 

10. Frank, the maintenance man 

11. Curtis and Luciano, the artists 

12. Gloria, the security guard 

The Vanishing Mural 

Fremont and Wallingford are adjacent neighborhoods in clean, green
Washington.  The State, that is.  These neighbors share a common 
underpass at 46th Street and Aurora Avenue which was a magnet for more 
than one predator -- to say nothing of the vandals and indigenous 
homeless. 

Now don't get me wrong.  Artistic Fremont has its Troll below the Aurora
Bridge, and Conservative Wallingford has its Ladybug among the traffic 
circles.  I'm sure you've run over the giant red Ladybug embedded in 
the asphalt at Burke and 49th. The residents of this flowery, sedate 
neighborhood maintain that aspect by re-painting the Ladybug every year 
and cramming the traffic circles with exotic flowers.  Even a baby 
parade can detour traffic on the tree-lined streets of Wallingford.  As 
for Fremont, where else would you find a Troll that eats Volkswagens? 

Well, you know, Seattle isn't just an ordinary city.  It rocks with
music; it rocks to an occasional earthquake; you can still hear the 
echo of falling Cedars and Sequoias harvested 100 years ago.  Today, 
Fremont's Solstice Parade of artists, sculptors, movie makers, 
playwrights, art walks and pub crawls seem to compete with their 
neighbor's modest, well-groomed estates, tearooms and ice cream shops. 

After all, it's the people that make the pies and the puddings who
really count in the community.  Look, here comes Linda.  She'll tell 
you all about the project. Gotta go, my cell phone's ringing and here 
comes the #358 bus!   "Hi, Linda!  Can you take over from here?" 

Linda is 100% Wallingford, sharp as a Yankee cracker, with a front yard
and a back yard and all.  Her blossoming hair is like a giant white 
Dahlia.  Her square-framed red spectacles give rise to comments, 
conversations and contacts for all kinds of community events. The 
serious-looking gentleman at her elbow is John.  He sports a snow-white 
beard and a pony-tail.  Obviously, they were made for each other. 

Linda and John live near the 46th street underpass.  They patrol Aurora
Avenue with their neighbors every week, as a deterrent to illicit 
activities like car thefts drug deals and burglaries of neighboring 
houses. 

One day, vandals dumped a bunch of big stones onto the street, where
they could cause a serious traffic accident -- right beneath the 
underpass!!  The stones were promptly removed by a road crew; however 
all the neighbors agreed that it was time to do something about the 
situation. That night, they gathered at Linda's house and decided to 
brighten up the underpass with better lighting and a giant wall mural 


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